Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio.

Early life

McNeil was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where she now lives. She studied at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

, Oxford and has a degree in English literature and History from

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

Writing

As Frances Brody she has written a series of 1920s crime novels featuring Kate Shackleton. The sixth in the series, ''An Avid Reader'', is set in the

Leeds Library The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. It was founded in 1768, following an advertisement placed in the ''Leeds Intelligencer'' earlier that year. The first secretary was Joseph Priestley. In 1779 ...

, the oldest surviving

subscription library A subscription library (also membership library or independent library) is a library that is financed by private funds either from membership fees or endowments. Unlike a public library, access is often restricted to members, but access rights c ...

of its type in the UK. After nine books in the series Brody wrote a short story prequel, ''Kate Shackleton's First Case'', in which the story begins in a Harrogate teashop. The twelfth book in the series (excluding "first case") was ''Death and the Brewery Queen'', published in 2020, and the thirteenth, '' A Mansion for Murder'', in 2022. Each book in the series is set in a specific location in Yorkshire. ''A Woman Unknown'' was shortlisted for the 2016 Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, the criteria for which include: "the protagonist is a nice young woman whose life is suddenly invaded". In 2021 Brody published ''A Murder Inside'', the first in the ''Brackerly Prison Mysteries'' series set in a 1960s women's prison in Yorkshire. She wrote three novels under her own name, which were republished in 2016 under the name Frances Brody. ''Sisters on Bread Street'' is partly based on the story of her mother, who lived on Bread Street in Leeds as a child; it was published in a limited edition just after her mother's hundredth birthday, published in an expanded edition as ''Somewhere Behind the Morning'', and republished in 2016 under its original title. ''Sixpence in her Shoe'' relates to the Leeds Children's Holiday Camp Association based at Silverdale, Lancashire, about which she has also written a factual history, ''Now I am a Swimmer'' (the title being a quote from a child's letter home). ''Sisters of Fortune'' is the tale of two girls of different financial backgrounds growing up in Leeds, and was republished as ''Halfpenny Dreams''. Her plays include ''Tressell'', about Robert Tressell, author of ''

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists ''The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists'' (1914) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Irish house painter and sign writer Robert Noonan, who wrote the book in his spare time under the pen name Robert Tressell. Published after Tressell's death fro ...

''. An archive of her literary papers is held by the University of Leeds.

Selected publications

Writing as Frances McNeil

*''Sisters on Bread Street'' (Limited edition, 2003, Pavan Press, ; published as ''Somewhere Behind the Morning'' 2006, Orion Books, ; republished January 2016 as ''Sisters on Bread Street'', a Frances Brody book, Piatkus, ) *''Sixpence in her Shoe'' (2007, Orion Books, ; republished April 2016 as a Frances Brody book, Piatkus, ) *''Sisters of Fortune'' (2007, Severn House, ; republished July 2016 as ''Halfpenny Dreams'', a Frances Brody book, Piatkus, ) *''Now I am a Swimmer'' (2004, Pavan Press, ) (Non-fiction account of the Leeds Children's Holiday Camp Association)

Writing as Frances Brody – the Kate Shackleton books

*''Dying in the Wool'' (2009, Piatkus, ) Set in the fictional village of Bridgestead, based on Cottingley *''A Medal for Murder'' (2010, Piatkus, ) Set in Harrogate *''Murder in the Afternoon'' (2011, Piatkus, ) Set in the fictional quarry village of Great Applewick in the Yorkshire Dales *''A Woman Unknown'' (2012, Piatkus, ) Set in Leeds *''Murder on a Summer's Day'' (2013, Piatkus, ) Set at Bolton Abbey *''Death of an Avid Reader'' (2014, Piatkus, ) Set at the

*''A Death in the Dales'' (2015, Piatkus, ) Set in the Yorkshire Dales around

Langcliffe Langcliffe is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, in England. It lies to the north of Settle and east of Giggleswick. The River Ribble runs along the west of the village. Langcliffe lies within one of eight ...

*''Death at the Seaside'' (2016, Piatkus, ) Set in Whitby *''Death in the Stars'' (2017, Piatkus, ) Set at

Giggleswick School Giggleswick School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior an ...

at the time of the

Solar eclipse of June 29, 1927 A total solar eclipse occurred on June 29, 1927. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's ap ...

*''Kate Shackleton's First Case'' (2018, ebook, Little, Brown, ) Set in Harrogate *''A Snapshot of Murder'' (2018, Piatkus, ) Includes the short story ''Kate Shackleton's First Case''; set at Ponden Hall *''The Body on the Train'' (2019, Piatkus, ) Set in the Rhubarb Triangle featuring the early-morning train to King's Cross *''Death and the Brewery Queen'' (2020, Piatkus, ), published in United States as ''Murder is in the Air'' (2020, Crooked Lane, ) Set in

Masham Masham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census. Etymology In Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the An ...

, home to Theakston Brewery and Black Sheep Brewery *''A Mansion for Murder'' (2022, Piatkus, ) Set at Milner Field (now demolished) near

Saltaire Saltaire is a Victorian era, Victorian model village in Shipley, West Yorkshire, Shipley, part of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, in West Yorkshire, England. The Victorian era Salt's Mill and associated residential district locate ...

Writing as Frances Brody – the Brackerley Prison Mysteries

*''A Murder Inside'' (29 October 2021, Piatkus, )

References

External links

* ''As Frances McNeil'' * ''As Frances Brody'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, Frances Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English women novelists English crime fiction writers English dramatists and playwrights English women dramatists and playwrights Women crime fiction writers English novelists Alumni of Ruskin College Alumni of the University of York Writers from Leeds